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Jared’s touch causes her to flinch like he startled her from a deep trance. Julie turns her face toward Jared, and the first thing that draws my attention is just how red and swollen her eyes are. It looks like she’s been crying for days. “Jared? When did you get here?”
Despite his calm exterior, Jared’s blue eyes are full of panic as he flicks them up toward his brother’s face. It’s easy for me to read him because I’ve known him for so long and know pretty much what he’s thinking. Even though he looks calm, he’s panicking inside.
Wes steps up next to me and wraps his arm around my shoulders like he’s bracing himself as Jared turns his attention back to Julie.
“We were calling your name. Didn’t you hear us?” Jared asks.
She slowly shakes her head. “I guess I didn’t.”
He draws in a slow breath and then releases it, doing his best to stay calm as he tries to get to the bottom of the situation. “Are you hurt?”
She frowns. “No.”
The muscles tense in Jared’s back beneath his dark T-shirt. “Is Dad okay?”
Wes’s fingers dig into my shoulders a bit, and I hold my breath as fear rocks me. I pray to God that what comes out of her mouth isn’t what I think it’s going to be. Whatever she’s about to say, it’s bad.
Julie’s eyebrows draw in and her lips pull into a tight line while she tries hard to fight back tears. “No. He’s not.”
As soon as the words leave her lips, she bursts into tears. She gasps and begins crying so hard that she can barely catch her breath.
The three of us are paralyzed, like we didn’t just hear what she said.
“What do you mean? Did he get hurt?” Jared licks his lips slowly and gives her a gentle shake. When she’s unable to answer him, he raises his voice, causing her to jump. “Tell me!”
“Jared . . .” she whispers, and then her gaze turns up to Wes, who is still by my side. “Wes . . . your dad . . . he’s . . . he’s . . .”
Jared drops his head into his hands and nearly collapses onto the floor but is able to keep his body upright. A hard sob rips through him, and he fights hard to catch his breath. Wes’s hand flies to his mouth as tears begin pouring from his eyes.
My heart breaks for this family that I love so much. I don’t even bother trying to hide my tears as I drop down to my knees beside Jared and attempt to wrap my arms around him to comfort him the only way I can. “Jared . . . oh my God. I’m so—”
“Don’t you dare say it. Don’t you dare!” The panic mixed with anger in Jared’s voice is clear. “If you say it out loud, then it makes it real.”
Julie bites her bottom lip and reaches out to touch Jared’s shoulder. “He’s gone, son.”
“No!” Jared roars, leaping to his feet and knocking me back onto my butt in the process. His eyes are wide and have a wild look like I’ve never seen before, and it scares me a bit, but I understand why he’s come unhinged. “Don’t you lie to me!”
“Son . . . please,” Julie pleads. “This is hard enough.”
“No! You’re wrong. The army’s wrong. My dad . . . he’s strong. He promised me he would be back. He promised! There’s no way that he’s dead! Dad wouldn’t break his word like that.”
I push myself up off the floor and reach out to Jared, but the moment I wrap my fingers around his biceps he shrugs me off. “Don’t touch me!”
I flinch but understand his rage and jerk my hand away. Wes wraps his arm tightly around me, as if to protect me from my own boyfriend, and then pulls me back a couple steps. Wes’s attempt to hold me back doesn’t stop me from trying to reason with Jared.
“Jared, please.” I beg for him to just take a breath and realize that he’s not the only one hurting.
His eyes snap in my direction and then they zero in on Wes’s hand on my shoulder. His face twists as he narrows his eyes. “Get your fucking hands off of her!”
My eyes widen as Jared directs his anger over the news we just heard onto his brother, who is only attempting to comfort me.
Wes lifts his hand off of me and then holds them both up. Wes’s surrender doesn’t mean anything to Jared, because he takes a step closer to his brother. Standing toe to toe, they are nearly the same height, but Jared’s got about twenty pounds or so on Wes. Both men stand there in the kitchen, breathing heavily, neither backing down.
Jared stares into Wes’s eyes. “Don’t you ever touch her again or I swear to God—”
“Jared!” Julie jumps up from her chair, trying to stop her sons from coming to blows. “Enough! We’re all upset, and we just need to calm down.”
His mother’s voice seems to cut through Jared’s anger enough to freeze him in place. After a long moment, Jared simply shakes his head and takes a step back. “This is bullshit,” he yells so loud that I swear the pictures on the walls shake. He takes yet another step back away from Wes. “I’m out of here.”
